Roosevelt County, New Mexico
Roosevelt County is a county in New Mexico. The population of the county is 19,846. Major roads US Route 60 US Route 70 US Route 84 New Mexico State Road 88 New Mexico State Road 89 New Mexico State Road 114 New Mexico State Road 202 New Mexico State Road 206 New Mexico State Road 235 New Mexico State Road 236 New Mexico State Road 258 New Mexico State Road 262 New Mexico State Road 267 New Mexico State Road 321 New Mexico State Road 330 New Mexico State Road 348 New Mexico State Road 458 New Mexico State Road 467 New Mexico State Road 480 Geography Adjacent counties Bailey County, Texas (east) Quay County (north) Curry County (northeast) De Baca County (northwest) Lea County (south) Cochran County, Texas (southeast) Chaves County (west) Demographics As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the racial composition of the county is: 54.32% White (10,780) 40.61% Hispanic or Latino (8,059) 2.81% Other (557) 2.27% Black or African American (450) 23.0% (4,564) of Roosevelt County residents live below the poverty line. Theft rate statistics Roosevelt County has above average rates of Pokemon theft and murder. The county reported 29 Pokemon thefts in 2018, and averages 3.46 murders a year. Pokemon Communities Cities Portales - 12,280 Towns Elida - 197 Villages Causey - 104 Dora - 133 Floyd - 133 Unincorporated communities Arch Bethel Cameo Delphos Garrison Inez Kenna Kermit Lingo Milnesand Pep Richland Rogers Upton Yerba Ghost towns Bluit Tolar Climate Fun facts * The late Portales philanthropist Addie Peed Swearingen grew up in Elida and lived on a ranch there from 1960-1979. Another notable Elida native is former Texas Tech Red Raiders baseball coach Larry Hays. * The Roosevelt County clerk and deputy clerk resigned in late 2013 after the New Mexico Supreme Court ruled that all counties in the state must license same-sex marriages. County Manager Bill Cathey said they had resolved to quit "rather than be associated with that," according to the Associated Press. * Milnesand is home to the Prairie Chicken Festival. * Kenna was one of the largest cattle shipping points in the state by 1909. At the peak of its development, the town could boast a bank, two hotels, several stores, a post office, as well as several saloons. By 1912, many homesteaders relinquished their claims due to the drought, and Kenna dropped both in size and importance. * Roosevelt County is known for its odd shape, with a piece sticking out up and to the left, including Tolar and part of US Route 60. * Midday on November 30, 1944, an eighty-one-car west-bound mixed freight train derailed after a hot box on the seventh car of the train led to its axle breaking. The train carried airplane engines, canned corned beef, mattresses, fuel oil, and 165 five-hundred pound bombs bound for the Pacific Theatre. Thirty-six cars derailed. The oil car caught fire. After burning for twenty to thirty minutes, the munitions exploded. The explosion dug a crater 75 feet wide and 10 feet deep. Most of the buildings in Tolar were destroyed, including the post office, the railroad station, and the grocery. The blast was felt 120 miles away in Hereford, Texas. Thirty miles to the southeast in Elida, dishes fell from their shelves and windows broke in Melrose, twelve miles to the east. One person was killed, Tolar resident Jess Brown, who was struck in the head by a piece of metal and died while being transported to the hospital in Melrose. His widow, Pauline Brown, received a $17,500 settlement from the railroad for his death. Because of the war, the Federal Bureau of Investigation sent Special Agent R.J. Untreiner to investigate. The Bureau found no signs of sabotage and that it was an accident. While The New York Times reported only a single paragraph about the accident, it was front page news in New Mexico newspapers. Because of that news coverage, officials of the Manhattan Project issued a cover story of an ammunition explosion on the Alamogordo Air Force Base on July 16, 1945 after the test of the first atomic bomb. Category:New Mexico Counties